Liu Liu Hot Pot

What can I expect from a Chinatown hotpot place? Nothing good. Tucked away in a basement on Huron Street, Liuuil Hotpot offers Sichuan style all you can eat hot pot in a hygienic cesspool. The meat were sliced very thin, so thin in fact that it didn’t feel like I ate anything at all. Also, the spicy soup base was heavily seasoned with MSG. Definitely not worth $ 17.99. Not recommended.

I normally like to give small mom and pop shops a chance but this hot pot restaurant was a shit hole. Avoid at all costs. I went in with a group of 3. We initially got the broth half spicy and half non-​spicy. To our conclusion, their definition of spicy was burn a hole in your stomach spicy. Their broth was spicy enough to burn your nose and we kept coughing the whole time. We eventually couldn’t handle the heat so we politely asked the waiter to just change the broth to non-​spicy. The waiter refused and and told us there was going to be a charge of $ 8!!! $ 8 for hot water!!! So ridiculous! Their item menus are also limited and had to be ordered in single portions. How do you call yourself ayce when you limit customers to only 1 per order… I guarantee the way they handle their business, they’re going to eventually shut down. This experience here made me regret not going to Celebrity Hot Pot instead.

When it comes to restos in Chinatown, I don’t often have high expectations. I arrived at 6 and the place was empty except for one other couple. I was quickly seated and ordered the broth, half regular and half medium spicy (I love spicy but the medium caused me to sweat profusely, but didn’t take away from the experience)
It’s AYCE and for $ 17.99 a person on a Wednesday night was quite the treat. We ordered the platters of fresh beef, beef tongue, lamb, fish, beef and fish balls, tripe, and a large assortment of veggies. All were brought out quickly and was super fresh. The best were the chewy glass noodles.
The staff were attentive and refills on the meats and veggies were prompt. Best part about this place is that you order only what you want, nothing is wasted.
Only improvement would be if they’d also have shrimp. And somehow upon leaving that my clothes wouldn’t also smell like hot pot. :)
I recommend this place if you have a hot pot craving!

we went there for lunch today and were there around 1130am but they were not open. the store does not have any opening time on it so we decided to come back for dinner at night. the place is all you can eat and we had the half side spicy half side non-​spicy, and honestly i don’t think the soup base is good; it’s okay though but not as i expected after reading all these Unilocal comments. they do not have many choices but the meat and veggies they provide are pretty fresh. i would recommend their beef tongue!

Hot pot! The perfect meal on a cold day! And I have to put this in, can’t believe it was snowing in May in Toronto!
As M P. noted location is on Huron St now, near Dundas W.
Ordered the ying yang soup pot, half plain/​half spicy. Generally I go with medium spicy when we don’t know and it did pack a punch! Dipping sauces are done differently here, they list for you what they have and you choose 2. Different but in the end it worked out as most of the food on the spicy side didn’t need any more sauce or seasoning. The soy sauce (or jiang4 you2) we ordered was actually really good — definitely recommend. A little sweet, a little salty, and just a different flavour to it, perfect for dipping unlike straight soy sauce.
For an AYCE, the meat and vegetables were very fresh which they bring out to you on platters. Selection is not as extensive as other places. However, in actuality, it was good enough as we mainly ordered, beef, lamb, tripe, some fish balls, white fish, dried bean curd and veggies. No shrimp, wontons or other dumplings.
Service: friendly and attentive (note there were only 4 other tables being served)
Price: decent (Monday night $ 17.99/person), includes a drink that we couldn’t tell if if was a sweetened tea with cane sugar or something else.
Definitely would go back BUT when it gets cold again… which hopefully is not till the fall!

Food: ³⁄₅
Service: ¹⁄₅
«Sorry sir, we do not accept tables for 1» said the host as I entered Liu Liu and requested a table for 1. Since when is a single diner not permitted to eat? My money is good, I will pay cash, I don’t disrupt places. Not allowing a single diner to eat is terrible service! The place wasn’t even close to full.
I left and thought about it and decided I would pay for 2 people as I wanted to try this place. I returned, told them I would pay for 2 and then sat down to eat. The staff was confused.
The food was decent for a hot pot: order your meat and veggies off a menu, they bring it to you along with your choice of broth. Everything was clean and well presented. The broths were tasty. Liu Liu compares with other hot pot places downtown (there are few, thus my desire to try this place). Refills on boil-​able items was prompt.
I was really looking forward to giving Liu Liu a good review, but the initial service experience was so rude I won’t be able to give this place more than a ¹⁄₅.
Smarten up Liu Liu! Single customers are just as valuable.

Craving for hot pot since I returned from BC. Here’s a good find for those of you Downtowners like moi!
Please note that Liu Liu Hot Pot has relocated from Kensington Market to Chinatown (77 Huron St.) We managed to get free parking in front of the resto (sWeet!!)
Food:
— Soup base varies. We ordered one medium spicy, one very spicy and two regular. They were all pretty good.
— Meat and veggies were quite fresh on a Saturday. One problem tho, we ordered lamb but the meat they kept bringing over didnt taste/​look like lamb =S
— Not much seafood there except the cuttle fish, squid and some fish balls (too bad, no shrimps, booo)
— The glass noodles were so chewy and tangly my frined said it was like an intense makeout session in the mouth (LOL) so of course we asked for more =P
Service:
— Guys, it’s an AYCE so dont expect royalty treatment! They also often miss or mess up your order, so be warned!!! Besides this practice is not uncommon at AYCE restos!

This is one of our favorite restaurants. Love love love the food and the price! We were so sad when we thought it closed down. Now we’re super relieved it just got relocated. We’ll be coming here all the time now.

when i went there, it was $ 15.99 for dinner /​all you can eat and
three girls attacked the place.
this is my 2^nd time. first time with my Chinese friend .
my friends were happy to find out this place. n said they even didn’t know it’s around here.
cuz this place is pretty hidden. but great place to chitchat and cook, enjoy meal at the same time.
we stayed around 1 and half hr…(sorry for the owner…)
but the waitress was super nice and food was great.
and money definitely worth it.
they have. like 30 kinds of different food. including seafood, lamb, beef, pork, chicken, lots of veggies n noodle n rice and so on.
whenever it’s cold or rainy, my friends and I say. let’s go LiuLiu.
the place was decent. hope it doesn’t change the cost.
it used to be…$ 18.99 or something but I was great to enjoy the meal for lower price. hehe

Wow, I’m surprised this joint hasn’t been reviewed yet! Score! ;D
Went the other night with a group of 6 friends and man, was it goooood. First up, although the restaurant is downstairs and gives that kinda «sketchy» feeling, once you step inside it’s a very welcoming space. I love the décor, the wall-​stickers (is that what they’re called?) and the cute Chinese lanterns they’ve got stringed up near the cashier.
We were quickly seated and presented with a pot divided between spicy/​non-​spicy soup. For 6 people, we were given two pots: D They’re on electrical stoves that are user-​friendly and present less of a safety hazard, haha. Liu Liu provides the AYCE option for only $ 15.99 which is an amazing deal for dinner! The menu is both in English and Chinese and no worries, the servers manage to speak English well.
You’ve got a wide selection of fresh meats, vegetables, tofu, SWEET POTATO, noodles, mushrooms, fish balls. everything and anything. There are three types of dipping sauces I believe: spicy/​nutty/​sweet. Plus, you get an unlimited refill of sweet-​tea. So, eat and drink until your tummy’s content!
I can def say that Liu Liu’s Hot Pot is going to be a Hot Spot in the coming winter!